by Shawn Sobers — University of the West of England / Firstborn Creatives
September 22, 2013 – 08:28

This morning on a lazy Sunday, watching ‘Good Luck Charlie‘ on the Disney Channel with my 9 year old daughter, two of the characters talked about a game of chess. My daughter then said to me, ‘Let’s play chess’, and promptly got out the dusty multi-games compendium from its hiding place, leaving the remainder of the programme left unwatched. (I checked and she had not watched that episode before.) ... read more »

by Shawn Sobers — University of the West of England / Firstborn Creatives
July 14, 2013 – 06:18

Article removed “pending investigation”. Here’s the full text:

Let it be noted that on this day, Saturday 13 July 2013, it was still deemed legal in the US to chase and then shoot dead an unarmed young black man on his way home from the store because you didn’t like the look of him. ... read more »

by Shawn Sobers — University of the West of England / Firstborn Creatives
December 29, 2012 – 05:59

Courtni Webb, one of your 17 year old high school students, is now facing the possibility of being expelled from your school after writing a poem about the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. In the poem Courtni wrote she understood why someone like Adam Lanza might do what he did. She wasn’t agreeing with it, but in her poem said she understood the oppression in society that could cause such a tragedy. ... read more »

by Shawn Sobers — University of the West of England / Firstborn Creatives
June 17, 2012 – 17:59

Written in 1995 when I was in my second year of my undergraduate degree, I wrote this essay about Rodney King, the LA riots, and the role of the media. I thought it was apt to upload it here today, on the day of Rodney King’s death.

by Shawn Sobers — University of the West of England / Firstborn Creatives
October 30, 2011 – 19:14

In Roland Barthes’ famous book about photography, Camera Lucida, the French theorist writes, “Ultimately, photography is subversive, not when it frightens, repels, or even stigmatizes, but when it is pensive, when it thinks.“ ... read more »

by Shawn Sobers — University of the West of England / Firstborn Creatives
July 18, 2011 – 16:56

Front page of every paper is about the hacking scandal and Sir Paul Stephenson’s resignation as head of the Metropolitan Police Force. All except The Sun, which has The Beckhams’ baby in a huge photo, with just a tiny mention of this story. In the future The Sun should not dare ever complain about the low levels of education in this country, as they are the prime promoters of keeping British society ignorant and uneducated.